Components E could have taken a brief break in its calendar, however the previous couple of weeks have nonetheless been very busy for the Franco-American DS Penske group.
First, there was the return from Shanghai and the debriefing periods, to analyse the performances recorded and guarantee their sustainability. Then, the group moved on to the Gen 3 EVO assessments on the Mallorca circuit (Spain), to organize for subsequent season.
For Jean-Éric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne, who’re additionally competing with Peugeot within the World Endurance Championship, there was the Le Mans 24 Hours on 15 and 16 June, earlier than it was again to the world of Components E to organize for the assembly in Portland.
On this everlasting circuit within the north-west of america, Components E goes from one to 2 races this yr. The venue hosted IndyCar till 2010 and nonetheless hosts NASCAR, with the newest occasion happening in Could.
With its 12 bends and a bit of over 3.3 km in size, the Portland circuit is taken into account by drivers to be one of the vital tough when it comes to power technique.
Portland is a circuit aside
As we noticed final season, very like São Paulo (Brazil), this observe is the vector of excessive power consumption. It’s a kind of circuits the place main the race might be detrimental to the standings, and the place it’s important to undertake a method of alternating on the entrance.
The danger is that whenever you’re within the pack, there’s lots of contact.
Jean-Eric Vergne, DS Penske, Stoffel Vandoorne, DS Penske
Picture by: DPPI
“It is essentially the most difficult circuit we have come throughout from an power perspective,” mentioned Vergne.
“Within the simulator, we might by no means labored on a observe the place you needed to keep thus far again within the pack to preserve power. With the very excessive aerodynamic drag of those electrical single-seaters, you may simply save 20 % of power on every lap by staying behind the chief, and it is clear that other than pole place there is not any level in being first till the previous couple of laps.”
What is going to occur this yr, when the occasion is a double-header? The suspense stays, but it surely must be seen as a double alternative to attain massive factors for essentially the most skilled groups, of which DS Penske is one.